My two cents on outing of public officials

First, it was Republican Representative Ed Shrock. Now, it looks like Republican Representative from California David Dreier is the next closeted homo to be wrenched out of his hypocritical closet, half dressed, without his makeup. Of course, BlogActive was the first to break the story, and unlike the Schrock case this one has gained traction. Not only did liberal news blog Raw Story pick it up, but it was then in turn reported in the L.A. Weekly.

Some people out there take issue with the outing of public officials. So let me just erase any moral ambiguities that might be cobwebbing up your brains. If you have been elected by the people to legislate on their behalf, and you choose to become involved in supporting legislation that targets the very personal structures of peoples' lives, and that legislation seeks to reconstruct or limit behaviors or penalize or fail to protect peoples' private lifestyle choices, AND YOU YOURSELF ENJOY THE LIFESTYLE WHICH THE POLICY ATTACKS, THEN YOUR HYPOCRISY DESERVES TO BE EXPOSED, AND YOU DESERVE A RED HOT POKER UP YOUR ASS. There is scant claim to privacy of a policy maker here when that policy maker is legislating the privacy of his constituency.

Consider David Dreier. Much has been made about the evidence as to his sexuality, which, let's face it, is of the 'where there's smoke' kind. Accoring to the author of the L.A. Weekly article, part of the evidence includes a Member of Congress who has observed Dreier in gay behavior and is 100% "sure,"...that Dreier is gay. Ummm, "gay behavior"? What the fuck is that? According to Wonkette,

Dreier represents a very conservative district, and has repeatedly taken anti-gay positions -- and not just your standard Federal Marriage Amendment-type stuff. According to the Weekly, he even voted against "the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program designed to give shelter to the impoverished sick, and against funding for the federal ADAP program that furnishes the poor with the AIDS meds they need to stay alive."

Motherfucker, like most Republicans, has no decency, and on top of that, obviously identifies most with the elite bastions of white male privilege and power than with other gays and lesbians who, without access to those bastions, find it difficult to carve out a life for themselves. [As an aside, this raises interesting questions about identification that would be more pertinent if policy that affected lives hung in the balance. For example, what is at work when homosexuals do not identify as gay? Or consider other aspects of their character to be more important?]

BlogActive has a new target, the Director and Chief Financial Officer of the Republican National Committee. This is a bit of a gray area. Sure, the RNC has an anti-gay platform, but the CFO really doesn't have a say in that. Personal morals might compel a gay man to quit the RNC (like they might compel a gay person to identify with a party that better supports gay rights), but it certainly wouldn't have any affect on the RNC's platform in general, just like 'outing' every single gay Republican would have little effect on the party. Plus, I bet the job pays a shitload of money, and that's important to some. In the end, I'd have to say that outing this guy isn't the right thing to do. I'd most likely puke on him if we ever met, but publicly outing him doesn't really serve a purpose.

Here ends the lesson of the day.

Posted by jason at September 24, 2024 12:30 PM